Kirk Douglas

Douglas in 1963 Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Douglas soon developed into a leading box-office star throughout the 1950s, known for serious dramas, including westerns and war films. During his career, he appeared in more than 90 films and was known for his explosive acting style. He was named by the American Film Institute the 17th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood cinema.

Douglas played an unscrupulous boxing hero in ''Champion'' (1949), which brought him his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. His other early films include ''Out of the Past'' (1947); ''Young Man with a Horn'' (1950), playing opposite Lauren Bacall and Doris Day; ''Ace in the Hole'' (1951); and ''Detective Story'' (1951), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination. He received his second Oscar nomination for his dramatic role in ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' (1952), opposite Lana Turner, and earned his third for portraying Vincent van Gogh in ''Lust for Life'' (1956), a role for which he won the Golden Globe for the Best Actor in a Drama. He also starred with James Mason in the adventure ''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' (1954), a large box-office hit.

In September 1949, he established Bryna Productions, which began producing films as varied as ''Paths of Glory'' (1957) and ''Spartacus'' (1960). In those two films, he collaborated with the then relatively unknown director Stanley Kubrick, taking lead roles in both films. Douglas helped to break the Hollywood blacklist by having Dalton Trumbo write ''Spartacus'' with an official on-screen credit. He produced and starred in ''Lonely Are the Brave'' (1962) and ''Seven Days in May'' (1964), the latter opposite Burt Lancaster, with whom he made seven films. In 1963, he starred in the Broadway play ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'', a story that he purchased and later gave to his son Michael Douglas, who turned it into an Oscar-winning film. Douglas continued acting into the 1980s, appearing in such films as ''Saturn 3'' (1980), ''The Man from Snowy River'' (1980), ''Tough Guys'' (1986), a reunion with Lancaster, and in the television version of ''Inherit the Wind'' (1988) plus in an episode of ''Touched by an Angel'' in 2002, for which he received his third nomination for an Emmy Award.

As an actor and philanthropist, Douglas received an Academy Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. As an author, he wrote ten novels and memoirs. After barely surviving a helicopter crash in 1991 and then suffering a stroke in 1996, he focused on renewing his spiritual and religious life. He lived with his second wife, producer Anne Buydens, until his death in 2020. A centenarian, Douglas was one of the last surviving stars of the film industry's Golden Age. Provided by Wikipedia
Showing 1 - 20 results of 53 for search 'Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020', query time: 0.29s Refine Results
  1. 1
    by Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020
    Published 1988
    Book
  2. 2
    by Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020
    Published 1990
    Book
  3. 3
    by Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020
    Published 1997
    Book
  4. 4
    by Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020
    Published 2002
    Book
  5. 5
    Published 1986
    Other Authors: ...Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020...
    Video VHS
  6. 6
    Published 1986
    Other Authors: ...Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020...
    Video VHS
  7. 7
    Published 2002
    Other Authors: ...Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020...
    Video DVD
  8. 8
    Published 2014
    Other Authors: ...Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020...
    Connect to this streaming video (Swank Digital Campus)
    Video
  9. 9
    Published 1984
    Other Authors: ...Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020...
    Video VHS
  10. 10
    Published 1991
    Other Authors: ...Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020...
    Video VHS
  11. 11
    Published 2006
    Other Authors: ...Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020...
    Video DVD
  12. 12
    Published 2004
    Other Authors: ...Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020...
    Video DVD
  13. 13
    Published 2014
    Other Authors: ...Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020...
    Video Blu-ray Disc
  14. 14
    Published 2021
    Other Authors: ...Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020...
    Video Blu-ray Disc
  15. 15
    Published 1991
    Other Authors: ...Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020...
    Video VHS
  16. 16
    Published 1999
    Other Authors: ...Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020...
    Video DVD
  17. 17
    Published 1985
    Other Authors: ...Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020...
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  18. 18
    Published 1999
    Other Authors: ...Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020...
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  19. 19
    Published 1996
    Other Authors: ...Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020...
    Video VHS
  20. 20
    Published 2004
    Other Authors: ...Douglas, Kirk, 1916-2020...
    Video DVD
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